Huge paydays for Pickton inquiry lawyers

[Winston_Smith]

Oppal defends huge paydays for Pickton inquiry staff

Lawyers and staff at the Missing Women’s Inquiry are earning more than some of B.C.’s highest paid judges, according to provincial public accounts records.

But inquiry head Wally Oppal, who made $324,267 last year, insists there’s nothing wrong with the rates that he and others are billing.

“My salary is no secret. By order and counsel I’m paid $1,500 dollars a day, and so what that means is I work weekends,” Oppal said.

“I make no apologies for the fact that [the inquiry] will cost around $7 million. There were murders of innocent women.”

Senior commission counsel Art Vertlieb charged the province $483,741, while first-year lawyer Jessica McKeachie – who was hired to do research for the inquiry – has billed $203,134.

“Let me tell you how hard Jessica McKeachie worked,” Oppal said. “She was here Saturday nights, I saw her. She was here Sunday nights. That figure is probably close to two years’ work.”

For comparison, B.C.’s top paid Crown counsel earns just over $206,000, and the province’s top paid judge makes $265,000.

Cameron Ward, the lawyer representing the victims of serial killer Robert Pickton in the inquiry, billed just over $60,000.

Cori Kelly, who represents advocacy groups that were denied legal funding to take part in the inquiry, said she is “absolutely disgusted” by the massive paydays.

“We knew that the inquiry was a sham. We knew that it was something that would line the pockets of the lawyers representing the police and the interests of the police and the government,” Kelly said.

The cost of the inquiry has been a concern for some since the outset, including former B.C. attorney general Barry Penner, who warned in 2011 that the cost of government-funded lawyers could spiral out of control and advocated a “less-legalistic” study process.

Oppal defended the cost, however, by highlighting what the inquiry has accomplished.

“We have given an opportunity to for the families, the real victims who nobody heard from, an opportunity to be heard,” he said.

Attorney General Shirley Bond issued a statement to CTV News saying that the inquiry’s finances were beyond the province’s control.

“Once government… sets the rate for the commissioner, the commission’s operations and finances are not subject to government oversight. The commission determines its own operational needs and budget, including rates of pay and contract terms for staff,” Bond said.

The Braidwood inquiry into the 2007 Tasering death of Robert Dziekanski cost more than $4 million to run, whereas the Pickton inquiry – which isn’t due to release its final report until Oct. 31 – has already surpassed $7 million.

Source: http://bc.ctvnews.ca/oppal-defends-huge-paydays-for-pickton-inquiry-staff-1.910565

I'm not sure I agree with Oppal about the inquiry truly accomplishing anything. Also, these inquiries don't come cheap.

[grammafreddy]

Oppal is a jerk - and is deeply into government's payback schemes himself. This inquiry accomplished nothing. A whole lot of nothing.

[Al Czervic]

And just think what a BC Rail inquiry would cost…..but that’s “different” of course……

[Al Czervic]

Of course the NDP has come out and condemned the costs.....

NDP calls Missing Women Inquiry costs "astronomical"


Eyebrows are being raised over seemingly massive costs associated to the Missing Women inquiry.

Taxpayers have now spent almost eight million dollars on the process, and that figure is expected to rise.

Public account numbers show inquiry Commissioner Wally Oppal billed the province more than $324,00 for the fiscal year ending in March.

The costs for commission counsel Art Vertlieb meantime were even higher, at $483,000.

The NDP's Jenny Kwan says a cap should have been considered for the inquiry.

And here is the funny thing. Guess what Jenny Kwan said in the Legislature on this very topic...

My question is to the Minister of Aboriginal Relations. Is this acceptable to her? And if not, does she have the courage to tell the Premier that the Liberal government is wrong in not funding the 13 groups with standing and take action now so that the voices of aboriginal women and groups can be heard at the table? - Jenny Kwan - from Hansard

In other words the NDP wanted even MORE money spent on lawyers.

And the reply from the BC Liberals down below...

Hon. S. Bond: To the member opposite, who is, I'm sure, well aware of the fact that this government created the inquiry commission.... We certainly expect the results to be brought forward in a timely way.


To suggest for a heartbeat that there has been a lack of resources provided is simply inaccurate. British Columbians today have invested more than $4 million in this inquiry. In fact, the commissioner, out of that $4 million, made sure that there were four lawyers available. Those lawyers and legal support were provided to the groups that the member opposite mentioned. They did not take advantage of four additional lawyers — two pro bono, two provided through the commission inquiry funding — to do exactly what the member opposite is asking to be done.

Classic NDP these days....call for spending more money and then complain when the money is spent......

[Captain Awesome]

Well, public demanded the inquiry, were warned ahead of time it will cost huge amounts of money, and that's exactly what happened.

[grammafreddy]

Well, public demanded the inquiry, were warned ahead of time it will cost huge amounts of money, and that's exactly what happened.

The inquiry the public demanded was not the inquiry Oppal allowed for or delivered. Too many things and people and organizations were eliminated from the inquiry's scrutiny. Oppal was not an impartial, unbiased person, either. What Oppal delivered was an expensive farce.

[NAB]

Seems to me whether an inquiry becomes a farce and an expensive waste of money or not starts with those who establish the inquiry terms of reference. For example, there seems little sense in having an inquiry into potential wrongdoing (i.e. BC Rail or anything else) if the body (or any part of it) to be investigated is the one who gets to set the terms of reference.
Nab

On September 27, 2010, the Lieutenant Governor in Council issued an Order in Council establishing the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry.

Wally Oppal, QC, has been named Commissioner.

Under the Terms of Reference, the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry will:

a) inquire into and make findings of fact respecting the conduct of the investigations conducted between January 23, 1997 and February 5, 2002, by police forces in British Columbia respecting women reported missing from the Downtown Eastside of the city of Vancouver;

b) inquire into and make findings of fact respecting the decision of the Criminal Justice Branch on January 27, 1998, to enter a stay of proceedings on charges against Robert William Pickton of attempted murder, assault with a weapon, forcible confinement and aggravated assault;

c) recommend changes considered necessary respecting the initiation and conduct of investigations in British Columbia of missing women and suspected multiple homicides; and

d) recommend changes considered necessary respecting homicide investigations in British Columbia by more than one investigating organization, including the co-ordination of those investigations.

(e) to submit a final report to the Attorney General or before December 31, 2011.

· The Commission was granted an extension and the revised date for final report submission to the Attorney General is on or before October 31, 2012

http://www.missingwomeninquiry.ca/

[Gone_Fishin]

Hilarious. The NDP lapdogs and shills are as fickle as Jenny Kwan: it costs too much but we need to spend MORE. And the NDP cheerleaders on this board are calling for other waste-of-time inquiries like BC Rail, Gordo's choice of shoes, Christy's Cleavage, and whatever else they can dream up. Total hypocrites these leftist lapdogs! Promote the NDP at whatever cost (as long as someone else pays for it). That's the socialist way.

[grammafreddy]

Seems to me whether an inquiry becomes a farce and an expensive waste of money or not starts with those who establish the inquiry terms of reference. For example, there seems little sense in having an inquiry into potential wrongdoing (i.e. BC Rail or anything else) if the body (or any part of it) to be investigated is the one who gets to set the terms of reference.
Nab

Exactly.

[grammafreddy]

*try again without the personal attacks/Jo*

[Captain Awesome]

Too many things and people and organizations were eliminated from the inquiry's scrutiny.

Well, I'm sure they could have included everything and everybody. Could have been double or triple of that.

The point is - people expect things for nothing. And when what is demanded actually goes through, they're surprised at the cost.

[coffeeFreak]

I'm sorry but whether a person is an NDPer or a Liberal should not matter. This was an inquiry into the RCMP's conduct regarding its investigation of the missing women. Yet, they were the ones heavily represented AND they "allowed...to decide which evidence and documents to disclose"! What a farce!

VANCOUVER — A lawyer representing families of Robert Pickton’s victims has denounced a public inquiry as a failure, arguing it didn’t hear enough evidence to determine why the serial killer was able to murder with impunity.

Cameron Ward, who represents the families of more than two dozen missing and murdered women, says the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry neglected to hear from a number of crucial witnesses and allowed the police to decide which evidence and documents to disclose.

Because of that, Ward says the families have no confidence commissioner Wally Oppal will get to the bottom of the police failures that allowed Pickton to murder sex workers for years before he was finally caught.

Ward says Oppal ceded to an unfair deadline imposed by the provincial government, rushing through witnesses and skipping others, including numerous police officers involved in the Pickton investigation.

He says the police were given too much control over the inquiry process, refusing to disclose hundreds of thousands of documents.

Ward says the evidence the inquiry did hear showed police were negligent in failing to investigate reports of missing women, and that a police culture of disdain towards sex workers was partly to blame.
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Missing+women+inquiry+failure+victims+families/6727945/story.html#ixzz23Gy2G0fs

Quite the disparity in costs depending on what side of the fence a person was on:

Missing Women inquiry workers paid more than B.C.’s longest-serving judges

Brian Hutchinson | Aug 10, 2012 1:58 AM ET

VANCOUVER — Public hearings ended months ago but work continues behind the scenes at the controversial Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, where lawyers and other handpicked staff members continue to bill B.C. taxpayers at rates that former inquiry participants claim are “outrageous” and “out of control.”

The province’s latest public accounts record reveals that senior inquiry workers including commissioner Wally Oppal commanded more pay in the last fiscal year than B.C.’s most highly compensated public servants, including its longest-serving judges, provincial cabinet ministers and their deputies, and all but a handful of top Crown corporation executives.

Senior commission counsel Art Vertlieb topped the list, charging the province $483,741 for inquiry work performed in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012. Associate counsel Karey Brooks and her Vancouver-based law firm billed taxpayers $482,139 over the same period. Mr. Oppal, meanwhile, charged $324,267, according to the public accounts.

Jessica McKeachie, a first-year lawyer whom Mr. Oppal hired to conduct research, billed the province $203,134. Another young inquiry lawyer with three years’ experience charged taxpayers $236,606 for her work.

Inquiry executive director John Boddie, a former Vancouver Police Department (VPD) sergeant who handles office administration duties for the commission, billed the province $299,807. That’s twice the amount billed over 12 months by the executive director at the recently concluded Braidwood Commissions of Inquiry, called to examine the use of Tasers by B.C. police forces and the 2007 death of Polish traveller Robert Dziekanski.

Ultimately, the small staff of the Commission worked very long hours, most weekends and holidays
Mr. Boddie’s renumeration was close to VPD chief constable Jim Chu’s annual paypacket, and exceeded almost all provincial bureaucrat salaries. Only John Dyble, deputy minister to B.C. premier Christy Clark and head of the province’s entire public service, was paid more.

For reasons that no one has explained, Mr. Boddie billed the province via his wife’s company, Paula Boddie & Associates.

In contrast, the lawyer who represented the families of 25 murdered and missing women at the inquiry billed the province $60,000 for work in the same fiscal year. Another Vancouver-based lawyer, Jason Gratl, billed $143,100 for his work at the inquiry; he represented local community interests. The amount covered his own fees and expenses, plus the services of an assistant and an articling student, he explained. Unlike inquiry lawyers and staff, who billed by the hour, Mr. Gratl was paid a flat monthly fee. “It worked out to something like legal aid rates,” he added.

One lawyer who played a key role at the inquiry called the amounts charged by inquiry staff “outrageous.” And a lawyer who worked for the inquiry and was familiar with its internal accounting practices said there did not appear to be any “checks and balances…it seemed out of control.” Both spoke on condition of anonymity.

In a written statement, Mr. Vertlieb noted that rates of pay “were discounted from normal market rates and agreed to by the government. We have always been very conscious of the fact that this important Commission is funded by the public. Ultimately, the small staff of the Commission worked very long hours, most weekends and holidays.”

The Braidwood inquiries — one examined police use of Tasers in general, a second the Dziekanski Taser death — cost taxpayers an estimated $4.5-million in total. Mr. Oppal’s inquiry has already cost the province $7.85-million, according to B.C. attorney general Shirley Bond, and the meter is still running. Some inquiry staff — including Mr. Oppal, Mr. Vertlieb and Mr. Boddie — remain on the job and continue to bill for their services. Mr. Oppal has until Oct. 31 to deliver his final report to B.C.’s attorney general.

The inquiry was formed in September, 2010, with a mandate to examine why the VPD and the RCMP failed to apprehend serial killer Robert Pickton prior to 2002, by which time he had allegedly murdered at least 26 women. Pickton was convicted on six counts of second degree murder in 2007; 20 other murder charges were later stayed.

We have always been very conscious of the fact that this important Commission is funded by the public
Seven community forums were held in September, 2011. Evidentiary hearings began in October and ended in June amidst controversy and anger; families of Pickton’s victims said the inquiry didn’t probe deeply enough into police conduct.

Mr. Oppal was a controversial choice for inquiry commissioner. A former B.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judge, he turned to provincial politics and was elected to represent a Vancouver riding in 2005. He served as the province’s attorney general during the Pickton trial. Mr. Oppal was not re-elected in the 2009 provincial election.

Mr. Vertlieb, his chief counsel at the inquiry, is an experienced Vancouver litigator and is currently vice-president of the B.C. Law Society, the body that governs the legal profession in the province. Mr. Vertlieb also served as senior counsel at the Braidwood inquiries, where his billings never exceeded $271,000 per fiscal year.

To date, Mr. Vertlieb has charged the province a total of $1,222,250 for his work at the Braidwood and Oppal inquiries.

During an interview conducted in March, Mr. Boddie told the National Post that he “takes no holidays” from the inquiry, even during scheduled breaks. He had just returned from a week-long trip to Arizona, where he said he spent his time reading inquiry documents.http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/04/25/families-of-pickton-victims-offended-to-the-very-core-about-limits-on-inquiry-lawyer/

[The Green Barbarian]

*off-topic/Jo*